The Khilafah is not a police state. Torture, spying and arbitrary arrest and imprisonment are all forbidden. The implementation of Islam depends primarily upon Muslims taqwa (God Consciousness). They obey the law out of their obedience to Allah (swt). This removes the need for thousands of CCTV cameras that plague the cities of the west in order to prevent crime.
Furthermore, Muslims believe in responsibility not freedom. The collective spirit fostered in the Khilafah for doing good and righteous deeds means people will intervene if they witness any criminal behaviour. The culture of turning a blind eye to crime prevalent in the West will not exist in the Khilafah. This again falls under the general obligation of enjoining good and forbidding evil mentioned earlier.
Therefore, the arrest, conviction and punishment of those who disobey the law in the Khilafah are seen as a last resort. Even when dealing with criminals they have the full right to judicial process and they cannot be mistreated or tortured to extract confessions. Any confession extracted under duress or with false testimony is completely rejected. Those who give false testimony in an Islamic court or abuse any suspects will themselves face harsh punishments.
Torture is prohibited
Torture of anyone in the Khilafah is prohibited regardless of any benefit it may bring, such as intelligence information. The Khilafah does not lower itself to the despicable behaviour of the Americans and Israelis and their ‘state sanctioned' torture methods.
Muslim narrated from Hisham b. Hakeem, who said: ‘I bear witness that I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say: ‘Allah will punish those who punish the people in the Dunya.'27
Judicial Process
Arbitrary arrest and detention without trial is forbidden in the Khilafah. The legal principle of habeas corpus exists where anyone arrested must be brought before a judicial court and their case investigated by a judge (qadi).
‘The Messenger of Allah has ordered that the two disputing parties should sit before a judge.'28
All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a shari'ah court.
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: ‘It is the plaintiff who should provide the evidence, and the oath is due on the one who disapprove.'29
Private/Public Sphere
Another feature of a totalitarian state is its policing and spying on people in their homes and private affairs. As mentioned earlier, the Khilafah has a minimal adoption in Islamic legislation. It only adopts those laws necessary to manage the public affairs of state. It will not adopt laws in the areas of ibadat (personal worship) and belief except zakat and jihad. This prevents problems arising between the various schools of thought (mazahib) such as Sunni and Shia that live together in the Khilafah.
For non-Muslim citizens (dhimmi) they are left alone to practise their religions and those practises linked to their belief such as drinking alcohol, eating pork, marriage and divorce.30
The sanctity of someone's home in the Khilafah cannot be violated by spying on them.
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: ‘He who peeps into some people's house without their permission, it is allowed for them to gouge out his eye.'31
Also Allah (swt) says in the Holy Qur'an:
O you who believe, avoid suspicion as much as possible, for suspicion in some cases is a sin, and do not spy on each other.32
Allah (swt) prohibited spying in this verse when He (swt) said - ‘do not spy.' This prohibition is general covering all spying whether it is spying for himself or anyone, whether it is for the State or individuals or groups, and whether the one performing it i.e. the spying is the ruler or the ruled. The speech is general covering everything applying upon it that it is spying. Therefore it is not allowed for the Khilafah to spy on its Muslim or dhimmicitizens.33 The only exception being when there is clear evidence that a citizen of the khilafah is being used by an external state to spy on the Khilafah - then this can be investigated without overstepping the rights of the general citizenry.34
An example of the sanctity of people's homes and not pursuing criminal activity within them is from the time of the 2nd Rightly Guided Khaleefah of Islam Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (ra).
Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, was making his nightly rounds in Al-Madina when he heard a man singing in a house. He entered by scaling a wall and found a woman with him and wine.
Umar said "You enemy of Allah. Do you think that Allah, glorified be he, would not expose you whilst you commit a sin?' The man said: "And you O commander of the Faithful! Don't be so harsh on me. I disobeyed Allah in one thing, while you disobeyed Him in three:
He (swt) says: ‘And do not spy' and you spied.
He (swt) says: ‘So enter the houses by the doors' and you have scaled a wall.
He (swt) says: ‘Enter not houses other than yours until you have asked leave and invoked peace on the inmates thereof' and you have entered without permission.'
Umar (ra) said "would you be a better one if I pardon you?' He answered ‘Yes.' Umar pardoned him and went out.35
Ref:
27 Sahih Muslim on the authority of Hisham b. Hakeem
28 Sunan Abu Dawud, on the authority of Abdullah ibn Zubayr.
29 Al-Baihaqqi
30 Taqiuddin an-Nabhani, ‘The draft constitution of the Khilafah State,' Op.Cit., Article 7
31 Musnad Ahmed on the authority of Abu Hurairah
32 Holy Qur'an, Translation of the Meaning, Chapter 49, Surah Al-Hujurat, Verse 12
33 Taqiuddin an-Nabhani, ‘The Islamic Personality,' Op.Cit., Chapter ‘Spying'
34 Hizb ut-Tahrir, ‘Khilafah State Organisations,' Op.Cit., Chapter ‘The tasks of the internal security department'
35 Al-Khara'iti quoted in "Makarim Al-Akhlaq" on the authority of Thawr Al-Kendi
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